Accreditation to offer PDH classes/webinars 1

[LOTE]

I am considering offering online classes/webinars, both live and recorded, and structuring them to where PE's can count them for their continuing education requirements. It is something that I plan to charge for, with the intention of making some profit off of it.

Has anyone done this before? Have you gone the route of getting accredited through one of these accreditation agencies (like IACET), go through a bigger organization like ASCE or PDH course provider, or self certify with individual state boards? Or are there enough states that don't require that classes be offered by an "accredited" company that it is best to just skip this step?

Is there an accreditation agency that is recognized by most state boards?

 

[flight7]

Coming at this from the point of view of the user. There are a lot of free courses out there, and two of the three states I'm licensed in don't care whether the courses are certified in any way. The exception (of my 3 states) is Florida which requires courses to come from approved providers. Even there, I manage to find enough free courses from FBPE-approved providers to complete my renewals. I do end up paying for state-specific laws and ethics courses, and the periodic Florida Advanced Building Code course.

There are multiple companies already out there doing what you propose and their courses aren't very expensive. Their competition is giving stuff away for free. Be careful moving into that business space.

With all that being said, if I'm searching for a course I wouldn't worry about whether it's certified to count toward any particular board because I already have that covered.

 

[LOTE]

Thank you flight7. That's helpful, and my intention is to cater to those that would pay for the class regardless of PDH being awarded.

 

[driftLimiter]

LOTE a survey of the states requirements could help you on this front.

How many state boards even require accreditation. My state doesn't and engineers can even submit 'self study' for continuing education.

What I have found is that the Architects more commonly need accredited PDHs than do the engineers.

Perhaps if you seek accreditation you might consider offering courses to architects as well.

AIA i believe has a standard program to evaluate PDHs for accreditation, maybe there is just enough blend of structural/arch that you could go that route.

 

[driftLimiter]

Also,

I've historically done Free PDHs and I can tell you most of them are surface level at best. If you want a really good course that demonstrates the actual design practice (standard of practice) you've gotta pay. In the future I plan to pay for better courses that really stimulate me and propel me forward. Not more of the same basic information.

 

[Enable]

I agree with driftlimiter in that I am willing to pay for quality. I like to learn and PDH that are free are not overly conducive to that most of the time. So if you make a good program at a reasonable price point I'm in!

 

[geotechguy1]

Have you thought about going through an existing platform? It's somewhat geological focused but also has structural / civil courses:

https://ingeoexpert.com/en/online-courses/

I'm not sure what their deal is for compensating the lecturers but there are guys from Jacobs and also some relatively well known professors on there.

 

[NOLAscience]

It's somewhat geological focused but also has structural / civil courses:

https://ingeoexpert.com/en/online-courses/

This link works better:

https://ingeoexpert.com/en/courses/

 

[XR250]

For me, I am a cheap bastard and am really not interested in the classes. I feel like I get my "PDH learning" on E-Tips.
I typically buy one of those unlimited PDH plans for 12 months for $99 and time it correctly so I can use it for 2 years.

 

[DirtSmuggler]

Where are these free PDH that everyone keeps talking about?